I Only Exist in the Summer
Written By : Hannah Corbett
I just rewatched The Summer I Turned Pretty to refresh my memory before the new season comes out. And now I’m rereading the third book, because even though I already know what happens, I don’t want to be too surprised—and honestly, I love catching the details that match up perfectly between the books and the show. It’s such a satisfying feeling, and Jenny Han, the author, does such a great job of capturing it on screen the same way it is within the books.
But if you know anything about The Summer I Turned Pretty—and I mean really know it, beyond just being obsessed with Conrad Fisher—you’d know that the entire story revolves around summer. Not just in the sense that it takes place during summertime, but that summer is the center of everything. It’s the constant. It’s the pulse.
Even when it’s winter, when Belly is drinking hot chocolate or when snow starts falling on the beach—it still happens at the summer house. In Cousins Beach. That house is the anchor. The place they always come back to, no matter the season.
And it got me thinking.
Because I have a place like that too.
LBI. My favorite place in the world.
I don’t live there year-round. I don’t even spend every month of summer there. But it doesn’t matter. That’s the place that feels like home. That’s where my life resets. That’s where the best memories live.
The summers there are like a highlight reel of my life—and I find myself counting my years in summers, too. It’s how I measure time. It’s what I look forward to all year long.
I kind of feel bad for the other seasons. I do love fall and winter. I love the cozy things and Christmas, of course. But summer is different. Maybe it’s because my birthday is in August. Or maybe it’s because summer is when everything feels possible. It’s when things come alive.
Sometimes, even while I’m still in the middle of summer, I start missing it already.
Like I’ll be sitting on the beach, in the sand, watching the ocean, and I’ll already be thinking about next year. I’ll already be aching for this moment again, before it’s even gone.
I think that's why The Summer I Turned Pretty reaches so many people, besides the soundtrack, the boys, and the drama. The relationship that Belly and the boys have with the house is something that a lot of other shows don't have. It’s the feeling we keep coming back to and want to feel in our real lives as well.